The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is gearing up for the March 31 municipal elections as it looks to add another victory to its impressive record of the past two decades. The ruling party will seal its fourth win in successive local elections if it secures the majority of municipal seats in the upcoming vote. The party, which has more than 11 million members, the largest in the Turkish political scene, is mobilized for the vote, where it aims to take back municipalities lost to the opposition in the 2019 vote. The AK Party’s deputy chair in charge of election affairs said they will have 2 million members on the ground on the day of the election.
Ali Ihsan Yavuz told reporters at the AK Party’s headquarters in the capital of Ankara after a meeting on Monday that they would closely monitor the vote and would work to ensure there won’t be any “doubts” in the electorate’s minds regarding a fair election. The AK Party will have 420,000 people, including “reserve officials” as election observers in 81 provinces.
Yavuz also criticized their main rival, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which failed to obtain authorization for candidates in some constituencies, including a district of Manisa, the hometown of the CHP leader, Özgür Özel. The election board canceled the CHP’s application when it passed the deadline for notifying the board of their candidate in Manisa’s Saruhanlı district. Yavuz said they worked meticulously not to suffer from the same fate. The candidate-picking process has led to fighting in the CHP, as some prominent names parted ways with the party, alleging the administration did not consult with others in choosing candidates.
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